Did you know that the holiday season is the deadliest time of the year? With the added stresses of the season, more eating and drinking, more sleep deprivation, less sunlight, and less exercise, it’s no surprise. Here are three past posts that are important to read, especially if you have obstructive sleep apnea:

Lower sex drive in men could increase the risk of a heart attack or even dying. A Swedish study found that men with low testosterone levels were found to have slightly higher risk of heart attacks. Even when given supplemental testosterone, the rate of heart attacks didn’t go down.

We already know that untreated obstructive sleep apnea can significantly lower testosterone levels, as well as to cause possible erectile dysfunction (ED). We also know that severe obstructive sleep apnea can double or triple your rate of possibly suffering from a heart attack or stroke.

Knowing what we know, isn’t it time to begin screening any man with low testosterone levels or ED for obstructive sleep apnea? You may also save his life.

The world was saddened to hear about James Gandolfini’s untimely death. The Soprano’s actor was found dead while traveling in Italy. An autopsy reportedly revealed that he suffered a massive heart attack. There’s also lots of speculation that he also may have had undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. We know that untreated obstructive sleep apnea can lower your life expectancy by 20 years (he was 51), and can raise your risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke by 2-3 times normal.

We know that 80-90% of people with OSA are not diagnosed. Even when you fit the classic profile of someone with OSA (overweight, middle-aged, male, big neck), doctors in general don’t think about this condition. Most are told they need to lose weight. The problem is that poor sleep due to any reason prevents you from losing weight. It’s an unfair recommendation.

Every day during office hours, I see countless people with classic signs and symptoms of sleep apnea who continue taking their multiple medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and gout. Most snore like trains, but this issue goes unaddressed. In fact, a recent study showed that if you’re an obese woman with diabetes and high blood pressure, you have an 80% chance of having obstructive sleep apnea. (Doctors, since we’re humans too, also have the same risks.)

It’s time for doctors to wake up and help people sleep better, and save more lives.

Here’s an interesting study showing that the presence of heart disease may predict dementia better than cognitive tests. This finding is not surprising since we know that untreated obstructive sleep apnea can cause major injury to multiple areas of the brain. We also know that the older you get, the more likely you’ll develop sleep apnea. In fact, based on some recent population studies, more than half of people over 50 had some degrees of sleep apnea.

Once or twice a month, I have patients that are diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (50 to 90 apneas per hour) and when told that it’s important to treat it, they are reluctant, saying that they’ll take care of it once school ends, or when they get vacation time. I even go as far as to tell them that insurance actuaries rank sleep apnea at the same level as cancer. In fact, a recent study showed that for untreated obstructive sleep apnea, your relative risk of dying from cancer is much higher than that for heart attack or stroke. Another study showed that your life expectancy is about 20 years shorter, and still another study showed that your risk of getting into a car accident is 15 time higher than normal.

There’s a lot of psychology involved when you’re dealing with obstructive sleep apnea. What are your stories that involve friends or family members? Is there a lot of denial or refusal to act when told they have severe obstructive sleep apnea?

In my periodic quest to find famous people and celebrities who might have obstructive sleep apnea, I came across someone who died over 88 years ago: Vladimir Lenin.

In a recent article in the New York Times, various experts describe his medical ailments that lead up to his massive stroke and death at the age of 53. His cerebral arteries were found to be almost completely clogged. He supposedly had major sleep problems and had chronic headaches. He also had a strong family history of cardiovascular diseases, with his father dying of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 54, and siblings dying of a heart attack and stroke.

Lastly, notice that he had a mustache and a goatee. Many men with weak chins grow facial hair to make their chins more prominent. It’s not surprising that he also had narrow, triangular facial features. Take a look at his picture in the New York Times. It seems like he had a fat neck as well.

Blacks with high blood pressure were found to be twice as likely to suffer sudden cardiac death compared to other racial groups. A study published in HeartRhythm found that this was the case regardless of other other factors such as age, gender, family history, weight, diabetes or previous history of heart disease. What they don’t mention is that blacks are also at significantly increased risk for having obstructive sleep apnea, which more than doubles one’s chances of having a heart attack or stroke. I wish more studies like this would also control for the presence of obstructive sleep apnea.

You may be thinking that I mixed up the words in the title. Yes, I did mean to say that children who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol have higher chances that their parents have diabetes or heart disease later on in life. Researchers found that 26 years after screening these children for health problems, 47% of parents of these same kids had suffered a heart attack, stroke, or underwent a procedure to unclog blocked arteries. Thirty-seven percent of parents developed diabetes.

Again, there’s not one mention of the likelihood that there’s any chance of obstructive sleep apnea.

Millions of people have chronic insomnia. Billions are spent on pharmacologic and natural treatment options every year. Now a study shows that if you have chronic insomnia, you have up to a 45% increased risk of having a heart attack.

This study followed over 52,000 Norwegians who initially complained about insomnia. After 11 years of follow-up, those that said they had trouble falling asleep daily for over one month were 45% more likely to have suffered a heart attack. Those that couldn’t stay asleep all night had a 30% increased risk, and those that reported unrefreshing sleep had a 27% increased risk. After adjusting for age, sex, marital status, education, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, weight, exercise, shift work, depression and anxiety, people with sleep troubles were found to have the highest risk of having a heart attack.

Here’s another study that shows an interesting observation, but an explanation using my sleep-breathing paradigm is much more satisfying. Researchers found that postmenopausal women who have a current history of depression, past history of depression, or use of antidepressant medications had a significantly higher overall risk of stroke (29% over 6 years). Having a current history of depression alone increased your risk to 41%. The authors speculated that this increased risk may be due to medication use, weight gain, or increased cardiovascular complications that’s seen in people with depression. It’s been already shown in a past study that depression increases your risk of sudden death and fatal coronary heart disease.

It you accept the fact that postmenopausal women will have a higher likelihood of developing obstructive sleep apnea, then it’s likely that they will also be at higher risk of having depression, anxiety, hypertension, heart disease, etc. The researchers have done a great job in linking two of the end consequences of untreated obstructive sleep apnea, but failed to look at the common root of both conditions.

The material on this website is for educational and informational purposes only and is not and should not be relied upon or construed as medical, surgical, psychological, or nutritional advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your medical regimen, exercise or diet program.